Raheem Morris and Jeff Ulbrich have driven the 2025 Falcons Draft class. It all started with addressing the pass rush on Day 1 with Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr., followed by the secondary on Days 2 and 3.
Among those four Draft picks were two trades; Terry Fontenot traded up for Pearce in Round 1 and Xavier Watts in Round 3, giving up a first-rounder and a fifth-rounder next year.
Then, following the pick of Oklahoma DB Billy Bowman Jr., Jeff Ulbrich said he was pushing for the team to trade up for the aggressive defender.
Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich was advocating a trade up today to guarantee the team could get Bowman. "The vision is really nickel over safety," Ulbrich said.
— Josh Kendall (@JoshTheAthletic) April 26, 2025
You have to appreciate the love for the Day 3 pick, but could the team really afford to give up even more picks?
Falcons luckily land Billy Bowman for nothing more than a fourth-round pick
The Dirty Birds went into the 2025 NFL Draft with just five picks. They traded one of those picks, a seventh-rounder, to help trade back into the first round. That is all fine.
What hurts is giving up a first and a fifth-rounder in next year's Draft.
To think they nearly gave up even more picks next year is scary. Bowman is a great player, but the Falcons have already used up as many trade resources as they should.
Who knows how close Ulbrich got Terry Fontenot to trading up; maybe it was nothing more than just a suggestion.
However, based on what we have seen thus far, it is hard to believe Fontenot didn't pick up the phone, at the very least. He has been aggressive in getting the players his coaches want. Why would this be any different?
All that is well ends well. The defensive coach landed the player he wanted, and the Falcons didn't have to trade up for him.